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Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 174, NO. 39 | Tuesday October 18, 2011
InDEX 2 · Quick Hits 4 · Opinion 5 · Lifestyle 8 · Classifieds 10 · Crossword 12 · Sports
Music mess:
Electric Six’s
latest
release is
mediocre.
“USC should instead push health
and cleanliness as it did in 2008,
when a gastrointestinal bug
went around campus.”
On the mend:
The USC
men’s basketball
team tries to deal
with injuries to
several key players.
sports 12
lifestyle 5
opinion 4
weather
Sunny
hi 79
lo 58
today tomorrow
Mostly Sunny
hi 74
lo 56
Transportation
By Engie Salama
Daily Trojan
When first-year graduate
student Imran Khalid arrived on
campus last week, he discovered
he had to wait 30 minutes to find a
parking spot. The Viterbi School of
Engineering’s fall career fair closed
off part of Parking Structure A,
which led to excessive congestion.
Irritated and 20 minutes late
to class, Khalid was just one of
thousands of students faced with
stress caused by traffic.
“The distance from my house
to USC is 20 miles, and the time it
takes me to get to school depends
on the time I leave,” Khalid said.
“At times, the traffic is so jammed
on the freeway, I’ll have to exit and
travel beside the freeway. Then
it takes an hour and 20 minutes
instead of only 25 minutes.”
Traffic is in fact one of the
primary reasons Forbes ranked Los
Commuters
face stress
from traffic
Forbes Magazine said Los
Angeles traffic causes
increased stress levels.
| see Commute, page 3 |
By Arjun Vas
Daily Trojan
The Graduate and Professional Student Senate
launched a pilot program Monday to provide
discounted Metro Transit Access Pass cards to
graduate students currently enrolled full time at
USC.
The program, which is three years in the making,
started after GPSS discussed the difficulty students
had receiving passes from Metro at a Campus Affairs
committee meeting in fall 2009.
Most graduate students did not qualify for the
standard student discount cards offered by Metro
because it requires enrollment in a minimum of 12
units per semester. Masters students generally take
nine units and Ph.D. students usually take only three
or four units per semester.
Graduate students will now have access to all
Metro services until Dec. 16 for $25. The regular rate
is $75 for nine weeks.
Ryan Estes, president of GPSS, said students’
initial reactions have been positive and GPSS hopes
to increase the number of students participating in
the program.
GPSS begins
Metro savings
pilot program
For $25, graduate students can purchase a
pass for all Metro services valid until Dec. 16.
| see Metro, page 3 |
Public Transit
By Jackie Chen and Francesca
Bessey
Daily Trojan
The university jumped 18 spots this year
to No. 55 on the Times Higher Education
World University Rankings list.
The Times rankings, published Oct. 6.,
placed USC just under Boston University
at No. 54 and just above King’s College
London at No. 56. USC was ranked below
UCLA, which came in at No. 13. California
Institute of Technology, Harvard
University and Stanford University took
the first three spots, respectively.
In September, U.S. News & World
Report ranked USC 23rd in the country
above UCLA at No. 25.
The Times evaluates universities
worldwide in five major categories:
teaching, international outlook, industry
income, research and citations. A score
out of 100 is generated for each category
and the scores, weighted based on their
significance, are combined to determine
an overall score.
USC received a score of 41 in
international outlook, its lowest individual
score.
Even with the overall jump, some
students said they were unsure about the
results of the evaluation. The low score
in the international outlook category
confused students, because USC holds a
reputation as one of the most international
schools in the United States.
“USC advertises itself as the most
international school in the nation and
we have a lot of study abroad,” said Julia
Thomas, a junior majoring in theatre.
Thomas also expressed surprise at the
university’s low teaching score, a major
factor in the difference between USC and
UCLA on the rankings chart.
“We have an excellent teaching staff,”
Thomas said. “A lot of the people I’ve
talked to have only had great things to say
about their professors.”
The five categories are comprised of 13
separate performance indicators. These
indicators are either statistical data,
such as faculty-to-student ratio or Ph.D.
degrees awarded per bachelor’s degrees,
or interpretations of the results from the
Academic Reputation Survey, a worldwide
poll conducted by the Times and completed
by 17,500 experienced university scholars.
The Times said it has full confidence in its
unique ranking methods.
USC earned an overall score of 64 out
of 100, faring best in industry income, a
measure of innovation, and in citations, a
measure of the number of faculty members
referenced in professional journals.
Last year’s score of 60.7 rose because
the sub-scores in all five categories
increased or remained the same, with a
nearly 10 percent increase in citations and
international outlook. USC also provided
the Times with industry income data this
year, which it did not previously offer,
earning a score of 99.3 in the category.
Students also voiced doubts about
the accuracy of the Times’ core ranking
methodology — the Academic Reputation
Survey.
“If you do have a ranking system, it
should be based on the contributions of
the students who come out of the school,”
said Svadharma Keerthi, a freshman
majoring in biological sciences.
Sara Burton, a sophomore majoring
in music industry, said colleges appeal
to students for a variety of reasons and
these reasons cannot be encompassed in a
college ranking.
“The whole thing is really silly, that
there’s a ranking system at all,” Burton
said. “Each person is going to have a
different reason to go to college and the
college they choose is going to be based on
what they want, not on what people say is
the best place to go.”
University jumps to 55th in Times world rankings
CalTech, Harvard and Stanford
took the first three places in the
international rankings.
Rankings
USC’s score in the
world university rankings
2011 2012
International
outlook
Industry
income
Teaching 65.4
31.2
65.8
41.1
Citations 71.9
99.3
80.2
data not
supplied
Times Higher
Education
Rachel Bracker | Daily Trojan
Water break
Jeremy Slap, a sophomore majoring in philosophy and neuroscience (left), and Scott Greenleaf,
a sophomore majoring in critical studies, take a dip in the “Finger fountain” between classes.
Monday saw a high of 81 degrees, and temperatures won’t break 80 for the rest of the week.
Source: Times Higher Education Kate Mock | Daily Trojan

Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 174, NO. 39 | Tuesday October 18, 2011
InDEX 2 · Quick Hits 4 · Opinion 5 · Lifestyle 8 · Classifieds 10 · Crossword 12 · Sports
Music mess:
Electric Six’s
latest
release is
mediocre.
“USC should instead push health
and cleanliness as it did in 2008,
when a gastrointestinal bug
went around campus.”
On the mend:
The USC
men’s basketball
team tries to deal
with injuries to
several key players.
sports 12
lifestyle 5
opinion 4
weather
Sunny
hi 79
lo 58
today tomorrow
Mostly Sunny
hi 74
lo 56
Transportation
By Engie Salama
Daily Trojan
When first-year graduate
student Imran Khalid arrived on
campus last week, he discovered
he had to wait 30 minutes to find a
parking spot. The Viterbi School of
Engineering’s fall career fair closed
off part of Parking Structure A,
which led to excessive congestion.
Irritated and 20 minutes late
to class, Khalid was just one of
thousands of students faced with
stress caused by traffic.
“The distance from my house
to USC is 20 miles, and the time it
takes me to get to school depends
on the time I leave,” Khalid said.
“At times, the traffic is so jammed
on the freeway, I’ll have to exit and
travel beside the freeway. Then
it takes an hour and 20 minutes
instead of only 25 minutes.”
Traffic is in fact one of the
primary reasons Forbes ranked Los
Commuters
face stress
from traffic
Forbes Magazine said Los
Angeles traffic causes
increased stress levels.
| see Commute, page 3 |
By Arjun Vas
Daily Trojan
The Graduate and Professional Student Senate
launched a pilot program Monday to provide
discounted Metro Transit Access Pass cards to
graduate students currently enrolled full time at
USC.
The program, which is three years in the making,
started after GPSS discussed the difficulty students
had receiving passes from Metro at a Campus Affairs
committee meeting in fall 2009.
Most graduate students did not qualify for the
standard student discount cards offered by Metro
because it requires enrollment in a minimum of 12
units per semester. Masters students generally take
nine units and Ph.D. students usually take only three
or four units per semester.
Graduate students will now have access to all
Metro services until Dec. 16 for $25. The regular rate
is $75 for nine weeks.
Ryan Estes, president of GPSS, said students’
initial reactions have been positive and GPSS hopes
to increase the number of students participating in
the program.
GPSS begins
Metro savings
pilot program
For $25, graduate students can purchase a
pass for all Metro services valid until Dec. 16.
| see Metro, page 3 |
Public Transit
By Jackie Chen and Francesca
Bessey
Daily Trojan
The university jumped 18 spots this year
to No. 55 on the Times Higher Education
World University Rankings list.
The Times rankings, published Oct. 6.,
placed USC just under Boston University
at No. 54 and just above King’s College
London at No. 56. USC was ranked below
UCLA, which came in at No. 13. California
Institute of Technology, Harvard
University and Stanford University took
the first three spots, respectively.
In September, U.S. News & World
Report ranked USC 23rd in the country
above UCLA at No. 25.
The Times evaluates universities
worldwide in five major categories:
teaching, international outlook, industry
income, research and citations. A score
out of 100 is generated for each category
and the scores, weighted based on their
significance, are combined to determine
an overall score.
USC received a score of 41 in
international outlook, its lowest individual
score.
Even with the overall jump, some
students said they were unsure about the
results of the evaluation. The low score
in the international outlook category
confused students, because USC holds a
reputation as one of the most international
schools in the United States.
“USC advertises itself as the most
international school in the nation and
we have a lot of study abroad,” said Julia
Thomas, a junior majoring in theatre.
Thomas also expressed surprise at the
university’s low teaching score, a major
factor in the difference between USC and
UCLA on the rankings chart.
“We have an excellent teaching staff,”
Thomas said. “A lot of the people I’ve
talked to have only had great things to say
about their professors.”
The five categories are comprised of 13
separate performance indicators. These
indicators are either statistical data,
such as faculty-to-student ratio or Ph.D.
degrees awarded per bachelor’s degrees,
or interpretations of the results from the
Academic Reputation Survey, a worldwide
poll conducted by the Times and completed
by 17,500 experienced university scholars.
The Times said it has full confidence in its
unique ranking methods.
USC earned an overall score of 64 out
of 100, faring best in industry income, a
measure of innovation, and in citations, a
measure of the number of faculty members
referenced in professional journals.
Last year’s score of 60.7 rose because
the sub-scores in all five categories
increased or remained the same, with a
nearly 10 percent increase in citations and
international outlook. USC also provided
the Times with industry income data this
year, which it did not previously offer,
earning a score of 99.3 in the category.
Students also voiced doubts about
the accuracy of the Times’ core ranking
methodology — the Academic Reputation
Survey.
“If you do have a ranking system, it
should be based on the contributions of
the students who come out of the school,”
said Svadharma Keerthi, a freshman
majoring in biological sciences.
Sara Burton, a sophomore majoring
in music industry, said colleges appeal
to students for a variety of reasons and
these reasons cannot be encompassed in a
college ranking.
“The whole thing is really silly, that
there’s a ranking system at all,” Burton
said. “Each person is going to have a
different reason to go to college and the
college they choose is going to be based on
what they want, not on what people say is
the best place to go.”
University jumps to 55th in Times world rankings
CalTech, Harvard and Stanford
took the first three places in the
international rankings.
Rankings
USC’s score in the
world university rankings
2011 2012
International
outlook
Industry
income
Teaching 65.4
31.2
65.8
41.1
Citations 71.9
99.3
80.2
data not
supplied
Times Higher
Education
Rachel Bracker | Daily Trojan
Water break
Jeremy Slap, a sophomore majoring in philosophy and neuroscience (left), and Scott Greenleaf,
a sophomore majoring in critical studies, take a dip in the “Finger fountain” between classes.
Monday saw a high of 81 degrees, and temperatures won’t break 80 for the rest of the week.
Source: Times Higher Education Kate Mock | Daily Trojan